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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. staff — employees
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. row — a line
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. staff — employees
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. degree — an amount
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rash — hasty
  24. wax — to grow

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com